NAA'MAH - COLLECTOR OF SEEDS
I love reading the Torah text, not because I find divinity in it, but human creativity. I see it as the ancient legends of people trying to make the sense of the world around them and creating stories of ancestors who can be role models for us today. Our ancestors created characters, both major and minor and shared them with us. This week, as I saw summer flowers and vegetables emerging around me, I thought of one such Biblical character: Naa’mah.
Who is Naa’mah? In chapter 6 of Genesis, Noah’s wife is mentioned five times – mentioned but never named. The first rabbis were intrigued by the unnamed Mrs. Noah and created Midrashim, rabbinic legends, to fill in some of the gaps. First, they give her a name – Naa’mah. How did they come up with this name? They used a typical rabbinic trick. Naamah is named in chapter 4 of Genesis as a great, great, great, great, great grand-daughter of Cain (you know, the one who killed Abel). But, we know nothing else of Naamah but that she existed.
Naa’mah, without a story, in Chapter 4. Noah’s wife, without a name, in chapter 6. The rabbis decide that these two women must be one and the same. But what is her personality? Well the rabbis discuss this too – describing her as everything from a righteous woman to a wanton seductress. Poor Naamah is obviously not understood.
What can we glean from these Midrashim about Naamah teach us? When we are not heard, when our story is not shared, when we find ourselves only on the periphery, then, we are not understood. And, somebody else writes our story. If I had to make a guess, Naamah was so busy raising her three boys, helping her meshugah husband build an ark, caring for lions, lizards and Ilamas, mourning for family and friends lost in the flood, that she had very little time to worry about how she was portrayed, perceived, about whether she was even noticed.
One Midrash about Naa’mah sticks with me and makes me think about her this time of year. The midrash tells us that Naa’mah collected seeds and saplings as Noah collected animals. While Noah saved the animals in the legends of our people, Naa’mah saved the flowers and the fruits and the vegetables. Rabbi Sandy Sasso wrote a beautiful children’s book about this aspect of Naa’mah. And, so this time of year, when we see sunflowers growing and basil and mint peeking through the earth, we can think of Naa’mah and untold stories waiting to be discovered.
Rabbi Cohen